SIGNS OF THE END TIMES
In anticipation of my “End Times” novel FOREVER coming out in November, I’m doing a series on the signs of the End Times in our world today.
Are the End Times near? Of course. They were near in Paul’s day as well. We don’t know the day or the hour. God’s timeline differs greatly from ours since He exists outside of time. But we do see a progression, which the Bible warns us about.
PART ONE
The Great Falling Away
2 Thessalonians 2:3a: “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first...”
What does Paul mean by the “falling away?” Some translations use the word “rebellion” or “apostasy.” Pre-tribbers believe the “falling away” actually refers to the rapture of the church, which I think is a stretch. Besides, I’m not a pre-tribber.
I believe Paul is referring to believers falling away from the true faith, from truth itself.
This seems to be happening at an ever-increasing pace.
Being the cult junkie I am, I recently watched Dancing for the Devil on Netflix. It’s about a supposed Christian pastor named Robert Shinn who got a bunch of TikTok dancers to join his church and sign with his talent agency, 7M Films, promising them fame and fortune if they followed his teachings and obeyed his rules.
You can guess what happened. 7M Films made millions off the talent of these dancers, although Shinn kept most of the money for himself. He twisted biblical teachings like “dying to self” to compel his followers to cut off all contact with their families and even force the women in his congregation to have sex with him.
These gullible young people sought out Robert Shinn’s Shekinah Church because they were seeking God. They found the devil.
It’s not a new story. False teachers have been around ever since Jesus walked the earth. Paul warned us about them.
For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15
Satan’s servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.
They are really good at it.
Looking for God in All the Wrong Places
Say you’re desperate for cash, and someone hands you a hundred-dollar bill. You take it eagerly, not realizing it’s counterfeit. It looks so much like a real hundred-dollar bill. You haven’t studied the real thing enough to tell the difference.
That’s what happens to people like those TikTok dancers. They wanted God in their lives. But they didn’t know who God was, because they hadn’t learned enough about the real thing to know when they were being deceived.
This was also predicted in the Bible.
Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. Mark 13:5-6
People don’t know the truth because they don’t read the Bible. According to many sources, biblical illiteracy has reached an all-time high, even among practicing Christians. Researcher George Barna found that:
Fewer than half of all adults can name the four Gospel accounts.
Many Christians cannot identify two or three of the disciples.
Sixty percent (60%) of Americans cannot name five of the Ten Commandments.
Eighty-two percent (82%) of Americans believe that “God helps those who help themselves” is a Bible verse.
Even among “born-again Christians,” eighty-one percent (81%) believe that the Bible teaches the primary purpose in life is to take care of one’s family.
Twelve percent (12%) of adults believe that Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife.
Over fifty percent (50%) of graduating high school seniors thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife.
A LifeWay study found that 20% of churchgoers say they never read the Bible at all, while only another 20% say they read it every day.
How is this possible in a time when the Bible is more available than ever before? You can get the Bible in nearly every known translation for free on your phone or computer. Most churches hand them out for free. So why are fewer and fewer people reading the Bible? Why are they instead listening to provocative and charismatic false teachers who distort the word of God?
Maybe it’s because people don’t really want the true God. They want a God who agrees with them and their own desires, a God made in their own image.
The Real Wolves in Sheep’s (Expensive) clothing
But cult leaders like Shinn are not the real problem. Their reach is limited, after all. We no longer need cult leaders to distort and misuse the word of God. Our mainstream churches are doing a fine job all by themselves.
No one does scriptural manipulation quite like Mister Smiley himself, Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church in Houston. He literally wrote the book on it: The Power of the I AM. Any informed Christian knows that I AM is a name reserved for God alone. But Joel twists the holy name of the Almighty into shameless self-aggrandizement.
“Alright just repeat after me. I am strong. I am healthy. I am confident. I am confident. I am secure. I am talented. I am creative. I am disciplined. I am focused. I am valuable. I am beautiful. I am blessed. I am excited about my future. I am victorious. Alright how about amen?”
This is unadulterated blasphemy. Narcissism disguised as biblical teaching. Yet the Amazon reviews of this book overflow with how it’s message has changed people’s lives.
Osteen’s followers don’t want the truth. They just want to feel good about themselves. They want a God who serves them, not the other way around.
Steven Furtick, uber-popular pastor of Elevation Church in North Carolina, wears sneakers that cost more than most people’s car payments and spouts absurdities like “I am God Almighty!” At this year’s Easter service, wearing a Givenchy sweater that cost $2000 (and ugly as sin to boot), he declared, “His grave represents YOUR depression and failure, and Galilee represents a better life YOU want to live.”
It’s all about you, you see.
There was even a term coined for his type of preaching: Narcegesis—narcissistic exegesis. Furtick preaches what people want to hear, so more people will come to his church and give him their money, so he can buy more ugly sweaters.
This was also predicted in the Bible.
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2 Tim 4:3
The heresies aren’t limited to Protestants. Pope Francis has gone completely off the reservation. He told 60 Minutes:
People are fundamentally good. We are all fundamentally good. Yes, there are some rogues and sinners, but the heart itself is good.
This is mind-boggling. The Bible clearly teaches that all people are sinners and all need salvation through Jesus Christ. But according to Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, only a few “rogues” really need Jesus. The rest of us are good to go.
Pope Francis has also stated that all religions are equally valid. He said, “We must not forget that the Koran is a sacred book and that Muslims worship the same God as we do.” Even a cursory reading of the Koran would demonstrate that Allah and YAHWEH are not the same. The pope appears to be as ignorant of Islam as he is of Christianity.
In that, he has a lot in common with Oprah Winfrey, a sort of secular spiritualist who insists she’s a Christian even though she believes there are many paths to God, Jesus being only one (and not even the preferred one.)
“One of the biggest mistakes humans make is to believe there is only one way. There are many diverse paths leading to what you call God.” Oprah Winfrey
Oprah’s platform is enormous, her influence vast. Her version of New Age Christianity appeals to what “itching ears” want to hear.
All of this was, of course, prophesied in the Bible.
1 Timothy 4:1: “Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.”
Doctrines of demons are no longer relegated to the Robert Shinn or Jim Jones type of cult leader. They are in the country’s biggest churches. Prosperity preachers like Osteen, Furtick, Joyce Meyer, T.D. Jakes, Benny Hinn, and Kenneth Copeland have thousands of followers and make millions of dollars. Mainstream denominations have espoused gay, trans, and social justice agendas that have distorted the gospel beyond recognition.
Knowledge is Power
At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.
Mark 13: 21-23
Jesus told his disciples to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. (Matt 10:16). Good advice for us, too. We must know the truth in order to be set free from lies.
Protestia.com is an excellent website for discernment and news about false teachers, apostate churches and preacher scandals, of which there are many these days. They also have a YouTube channel.
The Dissenter has a ton of articles on false teachers and errant doctrines popular in modern churches.
Here are some excellent YouTube channels for further discernment.
